Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major health problem that leads to chronic liver disease, such as cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, in a substantial number of infected individuals. Current treatments for HCV infection include immunotherapy with recombinant interferon-α alone or in combination with the nucleoside analog ribavirin.
Several virally-encoded enzymes are putative targets for therapeutic intervention, including a metalloprotease (NS2-3), a serine protease (NS3, amino acid residues 1-180), a helicase (NS3, full length), an NS3 protease cofactor (NS4A), a membrane protein (NS4B), a zinc metalloprotein (NS4A) and an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (NS5B).
Potential treatments for HCV infection has been discussed in the different references including Balsano, Mini Rev. Med. Chem. 8(4):307-318, 2008, Rönn et al., Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry 8:533-562, 2008, Sheldon et al., Expert Opin. Investig. Drugs 16(8):1171-1181, 2007, and De Francesco et al., Antiviral Research 58:1-16, 2003.